PYONGYANG HAS upped the ante in its tense stalemate with South Korea by confiscating the assets of a joint tourist resort, a key symbol of warming ties during better days.
Fourteen officials and workers from the south have been given 72 hours to leave the scenic Mount Kumgang resort, which has been shuttered since a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean solider in July 2008.
Seoul has demanded that it be allowed to conduct a joint onsite investigation into the killing before it will permit its citizens to use the resort again.
A statement by the north’s official Korean Central News Agency said the three-year stalemate meant the South had “given up all its rights” to the resort and that its assets would now be legally disposed of. South Korean conglomerate Hyundai has invested millions of dollars in the site, building a plush hotel, a golf course and other facilities. The north had been threatening the action for months unless Seoul allowed tourists back.
Pyongyang watchers are struggling to determine if the statement is a bluff designed to prod Seoul back to the negotiating table or a genuine threat aimed at clearing the way for Mount Kumgang to reopen under new ownership – possibly Chinese.
Most agree that the north is desperate for hard cash after several years of UN sanctions aimed at punishing it for its missile and nuclear tests. Shortages have worsened since the south severed most commercial and political ties after the sinking one of its warships and the deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong island last year.
The Kumgang resort was a major source of revenue for the impoverished northern economy, drawing 400,000 visitors a year before the 2008 shooting. It is expected to host crowds of foreign tourists next year, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il-Sung – the nation’s revered founder.
Pyongyang’s threat comes amid renewed reports of food and energy shortages in the ailing Stalinist country and reported attempts by its leadership to secure new resources. Leader Kim Jong-Il is currently travelling 3,900km in his heavily armoured train on a rare trip to Russia, where he is expected to meet president Dmitry Medvedev in Siberia today.
Russia has announced this week it is sending 50,000 tons of grain to help Pyongyang deal with recent flood damage, and other help is reportedly in the pipeline, including natural gas and oil.
Kim has been pictured during the trip visiting a giant hydroelectric plant, wearing his trademark oversized dark glasses and green jumpsuit. Russian has reportedly proposed sending surplus power from the plant to the north. South Korean media sources say the north helped keep its economy afloat last year by selling huge quantities of coal to China but left its own coal-based power stations short of fuel.
North Korea has recently shown signs of attempting to break the deadlock with the West and its allies over its nuclear programme, meeting US and South Korean officials last month in an apparent bid to restart talks that have been stalled since 2008.
Seoul yesterday called the seizure of Kumgang “regrettable” and promised to take “all possible measures including legal and diplomatic actions”, according to the AP news agency.